N E W S F R O M T H E R O S E N S T I E L S C H O O L O F M A R I N E & AT M O S P H E R I C S C I E N C E WINTER / SPRING 2020
R E S EARCH Rosenstiel Study Finds Offshore Aquaculture Has Low Environmental Impact A Rosenstiel School study found minimal environmental impacts to the surrounding waters from a major commercial fish-farming operation off the coast of Panama. It demonstrated that when appropriately sited, commercially scaled offshore aquaculture installations have the potential to operate in a way that produces a relatively small pollution footprint. The results also showed that any impacts from
offshore fish farming are minimal compared to all other forms of animal protein production for human consumption. “We must produce 30 million metric tons of seafood to keep up with human population growth and increasing consumption of seafood,” said Aaron Welch, Ph.D., who conducted the study
while a graduate student. “The open ocean appears to be the best environment that would allow for this expansion.” READ MORE https://rebrand.ly/offshore
Scientists Create First-Ever Global Atlas of Coral Reefs A study from scientists at the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans
Foundation and the Rosenstiel School used a combination of Earth-orbiting satellites and field observations to map coral reefs around the world. This first-ever global coral reef atlas contains highresolution maps of more than 65,000 square kilometers
(25,097 square miles) of coral reefs and surrounding habitats. The maps, published in the journal Coral Reefs, are the result of a 10-year global reef expedition by scientists who traveled to more than 1,000 remote coral reefs in 15 countries, mapping and surveying the reefs down to a one-square meter scale to better understand their health and resiliency. Many of the reefs visited on the expedition had never been studied before. READ MORE https://rebrand.ly/reefmaps
Port of Miami Dredging Destroyed More than Half a Million Corals A team of researchers found significant damage to Miami’s coral reefs from the 16-month dredging operation at the Port of Miami that began in 2013. The study, published in the journal Marine Pollution Bulletin, found that sediment buried much of nearby reefs, resulting in the estimated death of more than half a million corals across more than 15 miles (25 kilometers) of Florida’s reef tract. “Coral reefs worldwide are facing severe declines from climate change,” said senior author Andrew Baker, associate professor of marine biology and ecology at the
Rosenstiel School. “If we want to conserve these ecosystems for the generations that come after us, it’s essential that we do all we can to
“Coral reefs worldwide are facing severe declines from climate change”
conserve the corals we still have left. We have to start locally by doing all we can to protect our remaining corals from impacts, like dredging, that we have the ability to control or prevent.” READ MORE https://rebrand.ly/dredging
African Smoke is Fertilizing Amazon Rainforest and Oceans Smoke from fires in Africa may be the most important source of the nutrient phosphorus in the Amazon rainforest, Tropical Atlantic
and Southern oceans, according to a study led by Rosenstiel School researchers. “Our findings reveal that biomass burning emissions
transported from Africa are potentially a more important source of phosphorus to these ecosystems than Saharan dust,” said Cassandra Gaston, assistant professor and the study’s senior author. To conduct the study, the researchers analyzed aerosols collected on filters from a hilltop in French Guiana, and tracked the smoke moving through the atmosphere using satellite remote sensing tools. They were then able to estimate the amount of phosphorus deposited to the Amazon Basin and the global oceans from African biomass burning. READ MORE https://rebrand.ly/african-smoke
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Rescue a Reef Program Teams up with the NFL for Super Bowl LIV
Rosenstiel scientists in the Rescue a Reef program suited up with the Miami Super Bowl Host Committee, NFL Green, FORCE BLUE, Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science,
and Verizon Wireless to build the Miami Super Bowl Host Committee Reef. The coral restoration project supported the NFL’s sustainability mission to leave a lasting legacy in Miami, which hosted Super Bowl LIV on February 2. It also underscored the host committee’s environmental campaign Oceans to Everglades.
staghorn corals from UM’s Experimental Hatchery to create the reef, affixing the corals to Rainbow Reef off Key Biscayne. “By creating this restoration plot on Rainbow Reef, it’s going to act as a hope spot,” said Dalton Hesley, senior research associate and lead diver for Rescue a Reef. “The staghorn thicket we build will become a catalyst to seed the surrounding coral reefs.” READ MORE https://rebrand.ly/coral-restoration
On June 13, divers harvested 100
Rescue Mission Continues The Miami 1st Service Platoon partnered with the University of Miami’s Rescue a Reef scientific team to send 40 members on two coral reef restoration dives in Biscayne National Park. They emplaced more than 225 corals and activated a new wave of veteran citizen scientists. “This collaboration allowed our team to connect with a new audience and advance our
coral reef restoration efforts, said Dalton Hesley, senior research associate who led both dives. “These individuals can now act as stewards for coral conservation and educate others on their role and importance.” READ MORE https://rebrand.ly/mission-continues
New Study Analyzes FEMA-Funded Home Buyout Program More than 40,000 U.S. homes in flood-prone areas have been purchased and returned to open space since the 1990s under a FEMA pro-
gram administered through local government agencies. An analysis of the buyout program offers new insight into the growing debate on managed retreat – moving people and assets out of floodprone areas. A team led by Rosenstiel scientists found that FEMA-funded voluntary buyouts were concentrated in neighborhoods with lower income and greater social vulnerability. The researchers hope their analysis can
provide insights to help revise this program. The study’s lead author, Katharine Mach, associate professor of marine ecosystems and society, said, “While a proven method of reducing risk, buyouts to date have also illustrated the challenges with locally driven managed retreat and the potential benefits of experimentation with different retreat policies in the future.” READ MORE https://rebrand.ly/study-fema
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$6 Million Awarded to Restore Southeast Florida Coral Reefs Rosenstiel researchers were recently awarded $6 million to establish the Southeast Florida Coral Reef Restoration Hub, a first-of-itskind research project focused on restoring 125 acres of vulnerable reef habitat in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and National Coastal Resilience Fund provided the initial $3 million grant, which was matched by various donors. The three-year effort will be led by Professors Diego Lirman and Andrew Baker and partners from UM College of Engineering, Nova Southeastern University, SECORE International, The Florida Aquarium, the Phillip and Patricia
Frost Museum of Science as well as Rosenstiel professor Brian Haus. The program will be amplified through the involvement of citizen scientists from the University of Miami’s Rescue-a-Reef Program. “Rebuilding the lost abundance, diversity, connectivity, and structure of corals and coral reefs through science-based active propagation and restoration is critical to both the ecology and economy of Southeast Florida,” said Lirman. “Our restoration framework
is based on propagating and outplanting climate-resilient corals to restore ecological and economic services and function along these vulnerable and valuable shorelines.” READ MORE https://rebrand.ly/restore-reefs
UM Scientists Awarded NOAA Grant to Study Heat Waves Thanks to $190,000+ in grant funding from the NOAA Research Modeling, Analysis, Predictions, and Projections (MAPP) Program, Rosenstiel researchers will be studying heat waves, which have a significant mortality and economic impact. Professor Ben Kirtman and meteorologist Hosmay Lopez’s work will advance understanding of the physical mechanisms that control the variability, predictability and future projections of extreme heat waves events over the United States. The number and severity of heat wave have been increasing and are projected to continue increasing throughout the 21st century with climate change. “A better understanding of heat waves could improve our ability to respond to these extreme weather disasters,” said Kirtman. READ MORE https://rebrand.ly/noaa-grant
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D EVELOP M ENT School Completes Scientific Dive Training Facility In December, the Rosenstiel School completed construction of a state-of-the-art Scientific Dive Training Facility, The Splash, on its Virginia Key Campus. As one of the few facilities of its kind in the nation, the new scientific dive training facility will expand the school’s capability in underwater research and education by training scientists and students with the necessary scientific diving skills and technology. “Scientific diving is key to our marine science programs and research projects,” said UM Rosenstiel School Dean Roni Avissar. “Having a facility on our campus that will facilitate training of our scientists and of future generations of scientists, will help the school
fulfill its mission of advancing world-class research and education and our commitment to solving pressing problems through relevant interdisciplinary research.” With this enhanced capability, the Rosenstiel School is positioned to expand its capacity for accommodating more students in undergraduate and graduate programs. Major
funding for the project was provided by The Miller Family, Saiontz Family, Colleen and Richard
Fain, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd. and Diane and Chris Towle.
“Scientific diving is key to our marine science programs and research projects” Lou and Chosun Mastriani Endow Scholarship Fund to Support Coral Reef Restoration Exploring the waters of the Cayman Islands on their frequent visits, avid snorkelers Lou and Chosun Mastriani became increasingly concerned about the endangered coral reefs. The Washington, D.C., couple went online and learned about the crucial conservation efforts and promising research being conducted at the Rosenstiel School. The Mastrianis contacted the school and began discussions about how they could help to advance this important work. In 2018, they created the Lou and Chosun Mastriani Endowed Scholarship Fund to provide financial assistance to undergraduate students who are studying marine biology, ecology, and coral reefs. Recently, the Mastrianis took the additional step of including the scholarship in their estate giving plans, to ensure that this vital work to safeguard the health and resiliency of fragile reef ecosystems is supported in perpetuity.
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Attorney’s Planned Gift Will Support F.I.N.S. Attorney Jeanne V. Rowlee has been fascinated by sharks since she was a little girl in New Jersey, watching Jacques Cousteau documentaries and perusing pictures of sharks in the National Geographic books her parents brought home. “Every time we went to the beach, I would think, ‘There are sharks out there.’ To this day I say it. When I’m at the beach with my husband, I tell him, ‘You know they’re out there,’” she laughed. Despite her abiding interest, Rowlee never thought that a career involving sharks was possible—particularly for a girl. With that in mind, Rowlee recently made a life insurance gift to support the innovative Females in the Natural Sciences program at the Rosenstiel School. F.I.N.S. encourages girls’ involvement in the sciences through engaging, hands-on experiences alongside female role models. In appreciation of her gift, F.I.N.S. invited Rowlee and her husband, James D. (Jim) Rowlee, J.D. ’97, to participate in a recent day-long shark tagging excursion. As the crew located lemon, blacktip, and nurse sharks off Key Biscayne and brought them aboard, about two dozen girls between the ages of 10 and 18, from local public and private schools, helped to pull in the drum lines and perform the workups—taking length measurements, extracting tissue samples, and attaching tags. The crew members, all female graduate students at the Rosenstiel School, also spoke to the girls in detail about their research concentrations. Professor Claire Paris, an expert in larvae and their migration as well as a worldclass competitive free diver, talked about how these pursuits have taken her around the world. “I was absolutely captivated,” Rowlee said. “My eyes were wide open the whole day.” F.I.N.S. is part of the broader community outreach efforts of the Shark Research and Conservation Program. Under the direction of Dr. Neil Hammerschlag, research associate professor, the program engages more than 1,000 Miami-Dade County students each year. About the impact of her planned gift, Rowlee said, “It’s nice to know that other people will have an opportunity to do something that I didn’t, and to know that sharks will continue to be researched and protected and studied by future generations, which means we’re making the world a better place.” For more information on planned giving, visit miami.edu/plannedgiving, or contact Kyle Paige, Executive Director, Office of Estate and Gift Planning, at (305) 284-2266 or kpaige@miami.edu.
Recognizing the Herbert W. Hoover Foundation Caiti Waks, program and outreach director of the foundation next to commemorative sign in honor and in recognition of the Herbert W. Hoover Foundation for its visionary leadership and philanthropy which was at the forefront of establishing and advancing coral research and conservation efforts at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. The foundation’s contributions will make a beneficial impact to the environment for generations to come.
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Save the Date! Giving Day is Back for Another Year. On April 2, 2020, Giving Day is back! Last year, the Rosenstiel School received 113 donations, totaling $13,670. The gifts on April 19, 2019, supported student scholarships, research funds, community outreach and other vital programs. The school earned an additional $11,000 by winning three Giving Day Challenges: Global Giving, Show Your UM Affinity, and the Night Owl Challenge. Altogether the university at large raised $1,578,160 in the 24-hour period thanks to the generosity of 2,415 donors. This year, our goal is to reach 2,500 donors across the University. To make a gift to support the Rosenstiel School Fund on April 2, please go to https://givingday.miami.edu. For gifts to count for this challenge event, all gifts must come through the UM Giving Day link.
Rosenstiel School Hosts Miami Climate Symposium 2020 Addressing complex challenges like hurricanes and sea level rise, the Miami Climate Symposium 2020: Predicting and Living with Extremes, brought leading scientists together with students and community leaders in a wake-up call for collaborative action. More than 300 researchers, students, and leaders from the public, private and nonprofit sectors attended the January 22-24 symposium, organized and hosted by the Rosenstiel School. Among the scientific highlights: • Sea level rise is accelerating, posing multiple threats to coastal communities. • Hurricanes are likely to become stronger, if not more numerous. • Heat waves and droughts will be more frequent in the Great Plains. • Wildfire risk will increase in the west, but not in Florida. • Extreme rainfall events like Hurricane Harvey will occur more frequently. As University of Miami President Julio Frenk said in the concluding session, “Few issues are as complex as climate
change. It is our hope to uncover solutions, translate them into actionable evidence, and use that evidence to guide decisionmaking at every level from Individuals to government leaders.” Major Sponsors Presented by the University of Miami, sponsors included Florida Power and Light, University of Miami NOAA Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies, National Science Foundation, William J. Gallwey, III Esquire, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Key Biscayne Community Foundation, The Village of Key Biscayne, Atlantic Council Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center, Miami Dade County, Southeast Coastal Ocean
Observing Regional Association, The Florida Climate Institute and Diane Davis-Merrill Lynch Wealth Management. Media Partners NBC6 Miami and CNN. For more about the symposium, visit: https://climate2020.miami.edu/
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Valentine Foundation Provides Two Student Grants Students at the Rosenstiel School will benefit from two grants from The Valentine Foundation in California. One grant is for scholarships to fund the tuition of deserving students, and the second is to support students selected for the school’s fieldoriented semester in the Galapagos Islands. “The Valentine Foundation wishes you every success in your important work,” said Jerry Meador, president, in a letter to Dean Roni Avissar.
Call for Entries – 2020 Underwater Photo Contest Sponsored by
Smart Change Starts Here. The Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science is now accepting entries for its annual Underwater Photography Contest. Since its inception in 2005, the contest has drawn several thousand entrants from across the globe. The deadline for submitting photos is 12p.m., U.S. Eastern time, Monday, April 6, 2020. Judged by a panel of professional photographers and marine scientists, photographs are divided into six separate categories: Fish or Marine Animal Portrait, Macro, Wide Angle, UM Student, Marine Conservation, and Best overall. For more information visit: https://rebrand.ly/photo-contest-2020 2019 Best Overall Image by Davide Lopresti, Juvenile tritone alpestre - (Ichthyosaura alpestris) Location: Liguria, Italy
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N EW FA CULTY Five new faculty members joined the Rosenstiel School in 2019. • Katharine Mach, associate professor in the Department of Marine Ecosystems and Society and a faculty scholar at the UM Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy. Prior to joining the UM faculty, she was a senior research scientist at Stanford University and director of the Stanford Environment Assessment Facility. Her research focuses on environmental science and policy with an emphasis on climate change.
• Javier del Campo, assistant professor in the Department of Marine Biology and Ecology, conducts research on the global diversity and distribution of eukaryotic and prokaryotic microbes in the world’s oceans. He is currently investigating microbial community ecology in marine animal-associated environments using cutting-edge sequencing technologies and computational biology.
• Adam Holt, assistant professor in the Department of Marine Geosciences. He is a geodynamicist who studies the deformation occurring at plate boundaries and within the underlying, flowing mantle. By integrating a range of solid Earth modeling techniques with geological observations, his work places bounds on the physical processes and parameters that govern this deformation.
• Renato Molina, assistant professor in environmental and resource economics in the Department of Marine Ecosystems and Society, is an engineer and economist specializing in environmental and resource economics. His work focuses on topics at the intersection between game theory, sustainability, and institutional settings.
• Amanda Oehlert, assistant professor in the Department of Marine Geosciences. She received her PhD in marine geosciences from the University of Miami. She is a carbonate geologist who specializes in understanding the dynamics of the global carbon cycle and how it has evolved through geological time using geochemical records from marine carbonates and organic matter. -9 -
AWARDS AND AC C O L A D E S Professor Hansell Named a Fellow of AGU Professor Dennis Hansell was elected a 2019 Fellow of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), a distinguished honor that recognizes scientists for their remarkable contributions in the Earth and space sciences. A professor of ocean sciences, Hansell been at the Rosenstiel School for more than 18 years. His research interests are the biogeochemistry of the major elements—such as carbon and nitrogen—and the role of dissolved organic matter in the ocean’s carbon cycle. During his career, Hansell has spent more than two years at sea aboard research vessels, where his research has
taken him to all of the major ocean basins and to all of the continents. Hansell joins Rosenstiel faculty members and AGU fellows Roni Avissar, Amy Clement, Rana Fine, Chris Harrison, Frank Millero, Joe Prospero, Sharon Smith and Peter Swart.
A LUMNI NEW S Environmental Economist honored at Women of Color in STEM Awards Ayeisha Brinson, Ph.D. ‘09, environmental economist with the U.S. Department of the Treasury International Affairs, received the Technology Rising Star Award the annual Women of Color in STEM conference in October in Detroit. The awards recognize significant achievement in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). At the time, Brinson was a senior economist with NOAA’s Office of the Chief Economist, having joined NOAA in 2009. “While I was in high school, I participated in a summer program sponsored by the National Science Foundation that introduced me to environmental issues, such as acid rain,” said Brinson in an interview. “Following that
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experience, I decided to focus on studying environmental and natural resource issues. I decided to focus upon better understanding of the social and economic issues associated with resource management, and that led me to pursue an interdisciplinary graduate program that focused on issues such as economics and coastal management.” Asked for advice on a STEM career, Brinson said, “Be open to all kinds of experiences, don’t be afraid of failure or seeking opportunities that don’t fit the ‘norm.’ Oftentimes, what is perceived as a failure may lead to a great discovery or a career path that you really enjoy!”
Spotlight: David Yeomans David Yeomans, BS ’10, MS ’14, has built a successful career in broadcast meteorology, while
contributing to the public’s understanding of weather. He has won two Emmy awards for his work at KXAN in Austin, Texas, including First Warning Weather University for weather scientists. Yeomans was interested in meteorology at an early age and later became a registered storm
spotter and kept climate records for the National Weather Service office. After his freshman year at UM, he returned to Austin as a summer intern for the KXAN weather department. After Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans in 2005, he helped rebuild the upperNinth Ward neighborhood with Habitat for Humanity, serving as an assistant carpenter. At the Rosenstiel School, Yeomans studied the relationship between water vapor in the high levels of the atmosphere and global warming under climate change expert Professor Brian Soden. He returned to UM for graduate studies in meteorology, and gave a daily weather forecast on WVUM radio. He also served as the lead weather anchor for the campus TV station’s award-winning half-hour news show, Newsvision. Yeomans researched hurricane
formation for his master’s thesis and was a guest scientist aboard an NOAA Hurricane Hunter flight. He was invited to present his research at the American Meteorological Society’s annual conventions in 2012, 2013, and 2016. As a professional, Yeomans holds the Certified Broadcast Meteorologist seal from the American Meteorological Society. He received a Lone Star Emmy Award for the First Warning Weather University series in 2019, and another Lone Star Emmy Award in 2015 for the First Warning Weather Team’s Summer Weather Outlook. He was awarded First Place Weathercast in 2016 by the Texas Associated Press Broadcasters, and Television On-Air Personality of the Year in 2018 by the Alliance for Women in Media.
Protecting Chesapeake Bay Wendy O’Sullivan, B.S.’94, MS’96, was recently named superintendent of the Chesapeake Bay Office of the National Park Service (NPS) in Annapolis, MD. She oversees the NPS effort to manage and develop the Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network and support the protection and restoration of the bay. “I am truly excited to join the federal, state and local efforts to restore, protect and promote the Chesapeake Bay and its vast watershed,” O’Sullivan said. “I look forward to collaborating across the Chesapeake Bay Gateways
and Watertrails Network to honor and highlight the bay’s maritime, farming and cultural heritage, while also advancing watershed stewardship, coastal resilience and recreational access.” Over O’Sullivan’s 20-year NPS career, she has served in three NPS regions and its national headquarters, gaining extensive experience in park partnerships, community engagement, stewardship and program management. She started her career as the management assistant at Biscayne National Park in South Florida.
“Wendy brings extensive experience creating and sustaining partnerships to her new role,” said NPS Northeast Regional Director Gay Vietzke. “Her background in strategic partnerships will bring a steady hand and a wealth of knowledge to managing the National Park Service’s role in preserving the largest estuary in North America.”
Spotlight: Faith Brenner Faith Benner, MS’18, has joined the Billfish Foundation in Fort Lauderdale as a science policy associate. She is a native of Texas who graduated from Texas A&M University before her graduate studies at the Rosenstiel School. At the foundation, she is working to advance billfish science and public engagement.
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WINTER/ SPRING 2020
NEWS FROM THE ROSENSTIEL SCHOOL OF MARINE & ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCE
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